WELCOME TO DEPARTMENT OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

The Department of Biomedical Engineering started in the College of Medicine of the  University of Lagos in the 1981/82 session as the Biomedical Engineering Unit in collaboration with the University of Liverpool. As the Biomedical Engineering Unit, it was created to be primarily responsible for the repairs and maintenance of engineering facilities and installations within the College. As part of its responsibility, the Unit was also training Biomedical Technologists through training courses that were run by the Unit. These training programs successfully trained nearly a hundred personnel. The Unit was also equipped with facilities for medical diagnosis and research such as the electron microscope, which was an uncommon equipment in the developing world.

The effort to make the Unit a full-fledged Department of the College of Medicine finally materialized in the 2009/2010 session. The now Department of Biomedical Engineering and Bioinformatics is fully equipped with all necessary facilities, including the manpower to run academic programs leading to a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical engineering. The staff strength has grown to 14, made up of the Academic, technical and Administrative staff. Plans are also reaching the final stage to commence programs leading to Postgraduate Diploma and Master of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering.

Apart from the academic programs the Department has started running, it is also responsible for the management of the internet service for the entire college of Medicine and the Medical ICT. The Departments is running a staff development training in ICT for the acquisition of ICT the skills. Course included but not limited to Computer Appreciation, Microsoft Office suite (Basic and Advance), statistical packages-SPSS and Internet Applications and Uses. Through the Department, the College of Medicine has been able to standardize the internet facility which has now been expanded to cover nearly every offices, unit and posts. The browsing time is now 24/7 if electricity is available. The College portal has also been developed for student’s online registration and academic staff can upload their lectures in their webpage for their students. This portal is meant to be used for both Problem Based Learning (PBL) and Student Centered Learning and Teaching (SCLT). Other technical services provided by the Department inlcude: Medical Imaging and Image Processing, Computational Biology Laboratory Services and glass blowing and cutting, and there are also plans to start developing biomaterials for medical use such as in prosthesis development.

Considering the low manpower training and the availability of expertise in the areas of Biomedical Engineering in Nigeria, this department is set to be pathfinder in manpower development in these areas. Up till today, the department is still keeping up with its staff development training programs, to keep the long standing tradition. The Department also well positioned to meet the future challenged of these fields of study in terms of research and development for improved health care delivery.